The Chair of Manitoba Pork remains hopeful lobbying by pork producers will result in reinstatement of an emergency protocol that had helped keep PED out of western Canada.
Last week, just three weeks after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency began enforcing requirements for Canadian swine transports to be washed in the U.S. before returning to Canada, the first case of PED in Manitoba in over 18 months was confirmed.
Manitoba Pork Chair George Matheson acknowledges it’s hard to say where this case originated but there seems to be some relation with the ending of the emergency transportation protocol.
Two main concerns are, there’s far more PED cases in the states so more prevalence of the virus and, considering we do export a lot of weanlings into the United States and some market hogs, there are transport trailers going back and forth of a regular basis.
Also we have a state of the art washing facility in Manitoba just over the border in Blumenort and they don’t have anything like this in the United Sates and Canadian producers have always been concerned about tithe adequacies of the wash stations in the states.
You put those 2 things together, more PED virus in the states and wash stations that aren’t as cleanly, there is a much greater chance for this virus to be brought into Canada if our transport trailers are in fact washed in the states. ~ George Matheson – Manitoba Pork
Matheson notes representatives of Manitoba’s pork and transportation industries and the Office of Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Officer have been meeting at least twice every month to discuss strategies and have been in constant contact with CFIA and elected federal and provincial government officials and staff to make the case of pork producers.
He remains hopeful this pressure will result in getting this regulation updated and go back to washing the trailers in Manitoba as they return home.
